Dealership keeps calling, wont come down on price

[BoylermanCT]

I had an experience 2 years ago buying my current Chevy. I talked to 4 local dealers, and came to an agreement with the last one. Signed a purchase agreement and would come back the next Saturday with a check to take the car home. I called them on Friday to make sure everything was all set to pick up the car the next day, and they called me Saturday morning to remind me to bring proof of insurance for the new car. I show up to take the car home, and they say there is a problem, and they quoted me a $500 rebate I did not qualify for, and asked how I would like to pay for the extra $500. Apparently when GM sent me a private letter offer, that offer cancelled out another rebate they were offering to every buyer who already owned a GM. I put the check in front of them for the agreed upon price, and said we had a signed purchase agreement and I would not pay a penny more than the agreed upon price. They refused, and I walked. Drove straight to the 2nd place dealership, and they agreed to sell me the same car for the originally agreed upon price. Took delivery of their car the next day. I thought when you signed on the dotted line it was a done deal. Not anymore!

 

[joefromga]

A buddy of mine bought a blazer years ago and drove it around for a month and made 2 payments and it was repo'd saying his credit wasn't good enough. Never got the payment back either.

 

[ultrarunner]

Both of these last two posts is why car salespeople have the reputation they have... and I would add internet and cell providers to that list.

Too many contracts are airtight and binding on the consumer while providing an out for the seller.

The question is when is a deal a deal?

In our case we have left a deposit with a Saturday pickup... truck was there... just not the keys... another sales person took the keys home... had a supposed better deal... got the deposit check back and walked out...

Tuesday the Dealer calls and said it was all a big mistake... I agreed... said wasted too much time with you people and ordered my new truck from across town... for less, which was true... the salesperson said that was a mistake and I should have called him and why would anyone wait 10 weeks when they could drive home tonight in their new truck... some really don't get it but, they still manage to earn a living???

 

[oldpilgrim]

5 years ago, I got a mail flyer from a local Chev dealer who was having a president's day 3-day sale. They were 'clearing out' their used vehicles. One that caught my eye was a three year old Dodge PU with 30k miles for $9999. I was in the market for a PU so I went to look. It was late on a Saturday evening at the start of the sale. When I got there, there was a guy taking the $9999 sign out of the window and about to replace it with a $16,999 sign. I asked if that was the $9999 truck he advertised and he said yes, and that it would be 16999 after the weekend.

The truck was nice, took it for a ride and told them I'd take it. The price was really a steal, the $16999 price was really more in line with other dealers.

I gave him a deposit and told him I'd be back Tues with the cash as the banks were closed until then.

When I went back, a different salesman met me and when I asked about the truck, he went into a scared look, and asked me to wait while he went to see his boss. Soon there were 3 or 4 people all talking in the office.

I was told that the guy who sold me the truck did not mark it as 'sold' on the board and another person sold it after I bought it and they offered to get me a replacement. What did I want? I told them I wanted an equivalent year and model and the same price. I knew they couldn't do that but they promised they would and would call me in a couple of days. They returned my deposit check.

They didn't ever call. And I'm sure they sold it to the next guy for the $16999 price.

I suspect I've cost them several sales as I have told my story to everyone who ever asks about buying a new car from them. I know of one for sure. My nephew went in and told them that they screwed his uncle and backed out of a deal he was about to make.

I wasn't even mad that they didn't call me as I really didn't want to deal with the sleazes again. Yeah I could have raised hel with them. They had a deposit check and a signed P&S agreement, but it wasn't worth the hassle, there are a lot of cars and trucks and dealers out there. This was while I was still working. I would have had to juggle work hours with legal hours and it just wasn't worth the effort.

Today, being retired, I'd probably make it my life's mission to screw with them.

BTW, they're out of business now. I wonder why.

 

[EddieWalker]

A buddy of mine bought a blazer years ago and drove it around for a month and made 2 payments and it was repo'd saying his credit wasn't good enough. Never got the payment back either.

This doesn't sound right. My guess is your buddy never made a payment and then made up the story about it being repossessed because of his credit. A guy I know bought a new Cat 315 excavator from Holt Cat here in Tyler. He had it for about half a year doing a work for my neighbor. When they finished with everything, it sat there for several months. Then Cat came and took it back. The guy said they bought it back from him because they where short excavators to sell and they wanted to sell his to somebody else. Of course, his not being able to get any other jobs to pay for it never came up in his story, just that Cat was so short on excavators that they where buying used ones to sell to other people desperate for them. He never realized that the lot was full of excavators at the time when making up his excuse for having it repossessed.

 

[rgr33]

I cant help but be curious Ultrarunner, what are you doing that requires 50 vehicles? Keeping all those legal and maintained must be a full time job.

 

[EddieWalker]

From what I remember seeing pictures of, Ultrarunner has a very impressive collection of fine antique vehicles!!!!

 

[ultrarunner]

I cant help but be curious Ultrarunner, what are you doing that requires 50 vehicles? Keeping all those legal and maintained must be a full time job.

Call it a disease...

Always fascinated with cars... old cars mostly with crank start and rumble seats.

When I was about 10 I decided I wanted to own a car from every decade... my first car I bought at age 12 was a 1929 Model A...

50 is misleading because only 24 are insured... the rest are projects and parts vehicles.

I use to keep most of the insured licensed as well... California keeps increase fees so I went Non-Op on most.

Sampling by decades...

1905 Curved Dash Oldsmobile
1912 Model T Speedster
1928 Model A Roadster
1938 Bantam
1949 Plymouth
1957 Ford
1962 Corvette
1976 BMW 2002
1087 Samurai
1991 Silverado Styleside
2002 BMW 325iT
2011 Corolla S

 

[oldpilgrim]

You didn't buy the curved dash from a guy in Ma did you? A friend of mine sold one a few years ago. Don't know where it went.

I still have my very first car, a 31 Model A roadster that I bought and restored in 1962. I've had my 1914 Model T touring since 1978.

I need to get some decent pics of the A sometime.

from circa 1995:

from 1962:
it is now Bronson yellow, and has side mounted spares and white walls, as well as a bald owner.

 

[ultrarunner]

No... bought in Long Beach California from a Model T speedster guy... very active in his 80's

That sure is a nice Model T... mine is a built one.

Love the picture with the windshield folded!!!

Out of all the cars I have a soft spot for Roadsters and my two favorites are the 1931 Dlx Roadster and my 1938 American Bantam 60...

Biggest regret is never having been able to have a place where all or most of them can be together... came darn close in 2012 and think about not being able to make it happen just about everyday... of course the 2012 price of 1.3m is EASILY 2.3m today... that is just how much prices have gone up around here...

Sad to say not once in 2015 did I have one of the cars out... they are mostly shoehorned in to the storage and makes it a chore to get one out...

43 year member of the Model A Ford Club of America...